March 21, 2007

Features

Sports

Love unfolds

APSU wins two of three against TSU

St.Patrick’s Day dance ushers in proposal

Lady Govs fall short in third game

page 6

page 10

The voice of Austin Peay State University since 1929

Lacey Briscoe

MARCH 21, 2007

Volume 78, Number 23

First copy free, additional copies 50 cents each

Self Service to soon replace APWeb

By APRIL MCDONALD Assistant News Editor

Austin Peay State University is activating a new Web site for student services to include registration.A campus-wide e-mail was sent out notifying students and faculty of the changes.APWeb will be active through summer registration, Self Service will take over after that.

“Come fall,APWeb will be out of the system completely,” said Melissa Johnson, assistant registrar.“It may be up for a while depending on how the conversion goes.”

Currently, the new APSU Self Service for Students and Faculty Web site is functioning for those who want to browse the new system to better understand how it works. Fall registration will take place using the new system, and the new username will be needed.

Not all students are pleased with the change. Those

students with issues should contact the Registrars office prior to registering.

“I can’t find my registration or get where I want to go,” said Tina Davis, history major.“I go to APmail and then click on APWeb for students.”

Others are taking the change well.

“I think it allows for search options, which make narrowing down your searches a lot easier. I like it,” said Audrey Norman, psychology major.

There are three choices upon entering the site: Enter the secure area, apply for admission or check admission status and class schedule.When entering the secure area, users will be asked for the new username.

The new password is the month, day and last two digits of the user’s year of birth.

After this is entered, students will be prompted to change the password to six numbers of their choosing.

Then users will be asked to create a security question

and answer.

Once this information is entered, students are redirected to the main menu where they can look at personal information, student financial aid and veterans affairs or employment information.

Under personal information there is the option to change the security question, update addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, emergency contacts, marital status, name and PIN. The new usernames are generated automatically by the system and are not the user’s Social Security numbers. This change is an integral part of the new system to help further protect student information.

During the transition period, the Self Service site will also accept your Social Security number if you are unable to remember your new student username.

No information is currently available for financial aid and veterans affairs.

“We are planning to set up our self service site so students may accept their awards online,” said Donna Price, director of Student Financial Aid and Veterans Affairs.“We are truly excited about offering a more efficient option for our students.” If you are a student worker, you can now look at your pay information, tax forms and job summaries at the new site. This includes being able to look at your latest paycheck stub and direct deposit information.

While not all information, such as grades and degree audits, are in the new self service Web site currently, Johnson said,“We have to take the data that’s in our current system and move it to the new system.”

The class schedule for Fall 2007 is available at the new site, with many new options to search for desired

iTunesU brings tech to campus

See Self Serve, page 2

Mold forces move for some until summer

Lectures will be accessible to students online

By KYLE NELSON Staff Writer

Austin Peay State University is joining the likes of Harvard, Princeton and Berkeley by launching its own podcasts on iTunes.

Once activated, professors will be able to place course content such as lectures and videos on the music software, and interested students can subscribe to the various podcasts.

Plans for using iTunes began during the spring and summer of 2006, according to Katherine Bailey of Extended and Distance Education.APSU could be up on iTunes as early as this summer. “iPod’s are no longer new technology, and the university is moving that direction.” Frank Parcells, communication professor said.

This new medium is not exclusively for the use of online classes, but for all APSU professors. Blackboard is currently the source of course content for online classes.

The new outlet for course content, Bailey said,“will not replace Blackboard, but rather will be another repository or source for information for professors to use.”

Steve Wilson,Web designer for APSU, said,“The iTunesU site is broken up into two distinct areas: The public area, which is available now, and a secure course area, which we hope to have available soon.”

This public site currently has commercial content, such as a commercial for APSU and music from the school’s band.Wilson said,“We are hoping to add a

wide variety of content to the site, including video/audio from athletic games, guest speaker lectures, academic tutorials, musical performances and approved studentdeveloped content.” This content would be added to the public site.

“The secure course area will contain materials uploaded by each participating professor, including video/audio lectures and other multimedia class components. This area will be secure and students will have access to only those courses in which they are enrolled,” Wilson said. Even with this potential, what is placed on iTunes will be put up at the discretion of the professors.

Bailey said that the school has purchased an Apple Xserve for approximately $5,000. The Xserve server will house all of the new media that will be distributed on iTunes.

Parcells said that larger universities who are already on iTunes generally charge a technology fee for the students to use university-owned iPods an iPod to download content.

Some are concerned that lectures available online will result in lower classroom attendance.

This concern has been spoken by several other students and faculty, but Bailey has said that,“Class attendance is still mandatory in both online and face-toface classes.”

Colby Thrasher, an undeclared sophomore at APSU said,“For people who learn through listening, it’s excellent. It opens up more possibilities for education.”✦

PATRICK ARMSTRONG/SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Sophomore Sara Neuhart moves her belongings out of Hand Village.

Housing holds meeting for concerned students

By DAVE CAMPBELL News Editor

GRAPHIC BY DUSTIN KRAMER/ART DIRECTOR

Congressional members attempt to shut alternative lifestyles out of Tennessee public schools,particularly GSA organizations Bill would require parent signatures from students before participating in extracurricular activities

By TANYA LUDLOW Staff Writer

A bill aimed at discouraging Gay Straight Alliances in public schools is currently being discussed in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

House Bill 0905 sponsored by Rep. Matthew Hill would require students to get a parent’s signature on a permission slip in order to participate in extracurricular school-sponsored clubs.

Gay and equality rights activists fear that the implementation of such legislation would inhibit children from creating and participating in GSAs.

Christopher Sanders, president of the Tennessee Equality Project, a statewide organization dedicated to promote and sustain the equality of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons in the state of Tennessee, is particularly concerned about the detrimental effect that the implementation of anti-GSA bills will have on the state’s children.

In a phone interview Sanders said that a child attending public schools has rights too.

GSAs promote a healthy and safe environment where children have access to information about their chosen lifestyle.

“If children don’t have access to information in a suitable forum, they will get it where they can, and often that means going online where they are vulnerable to online predators,” he said.

Supporters of anti-GSA bills argue that GSAs actively promote alternative lifestyles and un-necessarily expose children to homosexual lifestyles.

A recent article by the American Family Association, a non-profit organization that lobbies for traditional family values, cites GSAs as “altering the attitudes of children and teens toward the acceptance of a destructive and depraved lifestyle.”

Sanders dismissed this argument by pointing out that GSAs are formed by students and not the other way around.

“Clubs such as GSAs are not forming

the questions; rather they are answering the questions children are bringing to school,” Sanders said.

He also said that “The number one priority is first, the safety of the child, and second, the child finishing school.

Children involved in clubs and activities they enjoy are more likely to finish their education,” Sanders said.

This statement is especially compelling in light of a 2005 National School Climate survey recently published by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

This is the only national survey to document the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students in

See GSA bill, page 2

“It is a water issue,” said Dennis Blanchard, housing specialist and area coordinator for Hand Village.“Water is leaking through the wall and into the crawlspace. There has been mold found in the crawlspace.” This was the response that was given to residents of Hand Village during a Feb. 26. The meeting concerned mold that was discovered just before spring break.

The meeting was held in Hand Village to make students aware of what was going on with the mold situation and why students were being asked to vacate their rooms.

Mold has been an ongoing problem at Austin Peay State University, particularly for those living in student housing.

Recently Hand Village, the newest part of campus Housing, has been found to harbor mold.

The meeting began with an apology from Blanchard on behalf of housing for the inconvenience caused from students being forced from their rooms midsemester.

According to Blanchard, Joe Mills, director of housing, had sent Blanchard to talk to the students about the mold problem.

At the meeting, Hand Village resident Amanda Snider expressed her discontent at the lack of response to three maintenance work orders.

One was made last semester for the presence of mold in her room and Snider said she had pneumonia, asthma and other respiratory problems since returning to her room in January.

She said that she’s not sure that mold is what caused her to be sick but had no illness prior to returning to classes for the

See Mold, page 2

News

THE ALL STATE PAGE 2; WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2007

Mold: Students vacate dorm rooms _____________

from page 1

PATRICK ARMSTRONG/SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Workers are set up outside 700 building Hand Village where mold was found in one of the rooms.

spring semester.

Snider also took issue with having to pay for a full semester. Snider thinks that students should receive a refund for the move and inconvience. She said that an attorney would be involved if it became necessary. Blanchard said that he did not have the authority to comment on any possible refunds for students.

Snider was also upset because she didn’t feel that the problem was being taken seriously.

Blanchard said that he was unaware of any mold found in the rooms. The people that need to be here are those who are responsible for this problem. They don’t need to be sending other people to do it

because it’s their fault and they knew, Snider said at the meeting. Blanchard said that he was available in his office if students had further concerns.

He also directed students to write a letter to Joe Mills.

Blanchard said that he did not have an answer to when students would be allowed back into their rooms at the end of the semester.

He did say that they would be continuing to work on the problem but that the anticipated time that students could return would be in the summer.

Clark and Associates were the architects of Hand Village.

RG Anderson was the construction company hired.

Neither company nor Blanchard could be reached for further comment.✦

_____________

classes.

Summer pre-registration began March 19 and runs through March 23.

However on March 24 through April 8 the system will be down in order to begin the conversion of these registrations and academic history into the new Banner Student Information System, which is taking the place of the current student information system.

Pre-registration will re-open on April 9 for summer and fall.

Students still chose the subject they are looking for and then enter the course number of the class, after which students can now narrow the search by instructional method, credit range, campus, part of term, instructor, start and end times, or days.

Summer pre-registration will still take place on APWeb, whereas fall pre-registration will now take place on the Self Service Web site.

Also with the new system summer registration will still require the normal RUN number and fall will require an alternate PIN. “Our staff is always available to answer questions,” Johnson said.“Students can call or stop by.

“The Heart of a Soldier”by APSU alumna Kate Blaise will be at noon, March 29, located in downtown Clarksville. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis at Riverview Inn free of charge to students.Tickets went on sale Monday, March 12. Limit is one ticket per student.

CPR training

The Center for Extended and Distance Education is sponsoring CPR and first aid training for health care professionals, approved for APSU nursing students. For details, call Mary Alice Burkhart at 221-7816.

School of Nursing events PATRICK ARMSTRONG/SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Students have had some resolution to their diifculties since the meeting. Here, a closer view of the affected area is seen.

“Or we have a computer lab we can help them register.

I’d encourage them to come by. And bear with us as we get through this conversion period.”

“We want to encourage our students to become familiar with and to utilize the self service system,” Price said.

“In most cases, questions as to award amounts, account summary, and general financial aid status may be obtained through the online self service.

This allows students the freedom to check their status at any time.

“We are always happy to serve students in our office or via the telephone, but often students may be able to save time waiting by first checking their status online.”✦

Security Master’s Program teams up with LIU For more information:

By ELIZABETH BRUCE Staff Writer

Austin Peay State University has recently joined with Long Island University in New York to bring its students a new degree program.

The new program for students focuses on the field of criminal justice and specializes in homeland security. Since its start in 2005, APSU’s criminal justice program has expanded greatly.

According to Tom O’Connor, assistant professor and program manager of criminal justice and homeland security at APSU, the program has close to 400 students this spring.

http://www.southampton.liu.edu/ homeland/index.html/

With the new degree program, students can pursue a master’s in the field of homeland security.

Students can start the APSU program obtaining a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Following this, an additional 36 credit hours, or 12 classes, can be taken to complete the concentrated homeland security master’s.

In addition to the classes taught at

World Briefs U.S., North Korea move forward in talks BEJING (AP) — The United States and North Korea have resolved a dispute over $25 million in frozen North Korean funds, clearing the way for progress in dismantling the North Korea’s nuclear programs, U.S. officials said Monday.

The U.S. nuclear envoy, Christopher Hill, said six-party talks which resumed Monday could now “move on to the next problem, of which there are many.”

U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser said the funds would be transferred into a North Korean account at the Bank of China in Beijing to be used for education and humanitarian purposes. Glaser said Pyongyang had proposed the arrangement.

The funds, some of which U.S. authorities suspect may be linked to counterfeiting or money laundering by cashstarved North Korea, had held up progress in nuclear disarmament talks.

“North Korea has pledged ... that these funds will be used solely for the betterment of the North Korean people,” Glaser said.

“We believe this resolves the issue of the DPRK-related frozen funds,” Glaser said, using the acronym for North Korea’s formal name the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The Feb. 13 disarmament agreement gave North Korea 60 days to shut down both its main reactor and a plutonium processing plant, and allow U.N. monitors to verify the closures.

Israel maintains firm stance in peace talks JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel will not talk peace with the new Palestinian unity government, charging it does not recognize Israel and renounce violence, but there were initial signs the West would adopt a more conciliatory approach.

In a break from the Israelis, the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem said the U.S. wouldn’t rule out contact with non-Hamas

members of the new government.

The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday endorsed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s hard line, urging the West to maintain harsh economic sanctions imposed with last year’s election of the militant Islamic Hamas.

“We can’t have contact with members of a government that justifies resistance, or in other words, terror,” Olmert said on Sunday, according to meeting participants.

Palestinians had hoped the new alliance between the moderate Fatah and Hamas would lead Israel and Western countries to lift the sanctions, urging the international community to give their new government a chance.

Israel has grown concerned that the tough international stance against Hamas could crumble following the group’s power-sharing agreement with Fatah, and signs of that have begun to emerge.

Troops die in Baghdad over weekend BAGHDAD (AP) — Sunni insurgents, resilient despite the five-week security crackdown in the capital, killed at least six more U.S. troops over the weekend. A Sunni car bomber hit a largely Shiite district in the capital Sunday, killing at least eight people.

The American military said four U.S. soldiers died and one was wounded when the unit was struck by a roadside bomb in western Baghdad. During the ongoing security sweep in the capital and surrounding regions, the soldiers’ battalion had found eight weapons caches and two roadside bombs and helped rescue a kidnap victim, the military said.

A fifth soldier was killed in an explosion in Diyala, an increasingly volatile province just northeast of the capital.A Marine died in fighting the same day in Anbar province, the vast, largely desert region that sprawls west of Baghdad to the Saudi Arabian, Jordanian and Syrian borders.

The regions are controlled by the Sunni insurgency.✦

APSU, students will take online classes from LIU professors.

According to the LIU Web site,APSU’s homeland security programs “have been recognized as one of the nation’s three leading graduate programs in the homeland security field.” The benefit for students is that they will pay the LIU class fee of $1,563 as opposed to the APSU fee of $2,300.

The degree will allow graduates to be involved in governmental affairs, specifying in certain areas such as the war on terror.

The program will also offer benefits that will allow a graduate long-term advantages as well. The degree program differs slightly

Campus Community Calendar Women’s History Month

Self serve: Reactions from students are mixed from page 1

Good Morning APSU

from the criminal justice program because rather than a general criminal justice education, graduates will be specially trained in the area of counterterrorism.

Qualified students will learn how to work with hospital quarantine, insurance, emergency situations, natural disasters, identity theft and a variety of other specific situations.All of these fields are currently in high demand of experienced persons in the United States.

According to O’Connor, the “agreement with Long Island University is now formally approved. It is a bachelor’s-tomaster’s articulation agreement, one of the first of its kind in the nation.”✦

The School of Nursing will host learning events next week showcasing services that could have local and global implications.

Events will take place from 8 a.m. to noon, March 29 in McCord Room 221.

Outstanding service

Nominations for faculty or staff that have gone above and beyond the call of duty are due Friday, March 23, in the office of Student Affairs. For more information, see http://www.apsu.edu/student_affairs/exem plaryfac/staffnom.htm.

Upward Bound teachers needed Summer teachers in all subject areas are needed to teach from June 4-July13. Pick up an application at the High School Upward Bound office at 400 Ford Street.

Greece study abroad

There will be a meeting at 6:30 p.m., March 22, in Harned Hall 245 for those interested in studying archaeology in Greece this summer. For more information contact Timothy Winters at 221-7118, or visit http://www.apsu.edu/winterst/abroad.htm.

Earth Day

SOARE will meet at 4 p.m., March 21, to discuss plans for Earth Day events. The group will also discuss plans to improve the campus recycling program.

Adult literacy program

Interest is being sought for students who are willing to assist adults wanting to learn to read. This organization would be affiliated with The United Way. Minimum requirement would be one hour per week.

Contact adviser Karen Sorenson for more information at (931) 221-6246.

Editor in Chief applications

The All State is currently accepting applications for editor in chief. Applications are available in UC 115 and are due no later than Friday, March 23.

THE ALL STATE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2007; PAGE 3

News

Conference moves leaders to action

PATRICK ARMSTRONG/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Student leaders from several Tennessee junior colleges and universities were on campus last Friday taking place in the Collegiate Leadership Summit. There were team-building activities and workshops.

PATRICK ARMSTRONG/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

PATRICK ARMSTRONG/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

A group from Middle Tennessee recently formed and call themselves BOLT, Bettering Our Leaders for Tomorrow. BOLT hosted a workshop titled “The Leadership Hangover: How to Detox”where they presented a 12-step program for students who are burnt out and offered games to help students remember how to have fun.

GSA bill: Pending approval _____________

from page 1 America’s schools.

The survey found that students in schools with a GSA were less likely to feel unsafe, less likely to miss school, and more likely to feel like they belonged at their school than students attending schools without GSAs. Other supporters of permission-slip legislation feel that the title “anti-GSA” is insincere and claim that their support of the legislation is not due to personal feelings about alternative lifestyles and instead emphasize parental rights.

In a phone interview with Bobbie Patray, president of the Tennessee Eagle Forum, a pro-family organization, Patray said.“Parents have the right and responsibility to know what their children are participating in.”

“This bill has nothing to do with the types of clubs kids are joining.”

“It is a parental rights bill that gives families the information they need to make appropriate decisions for their children, and I don’t know why any organization would object to it.”

When asked about the rights of children, Patray said “children have limited rights until they are 18 and parents have the right and responsibility to help them make good decisions.” ✦

Students who attended the workshop, “The Leadership Hangover: How to Detox” found themselves in awkward situations as they played a game called Bunkbeds, which emphasized teamwork and communication.

List grows in search for Hoppe’s replacement Staff Reports

Ausitn Peay State University President, Sherry Hoppe announced her retirement in January. Hoppe will leave the university July 31.

The Tennessee Board of Regents has begun its search for APSU’s next president. Below is a list of the current applicants.

The TBR committee will meet tomorrow to narrow the list to between 10 to 15 candidates.

TBR will meet in the Iris Room in the Morgan University Center at 12:45 p.m. March 22.

The meeting is open to the public and press for observing only. There will not be a question and answer session at this meeting.

Middle Tennessee State University • Timothy L. Hall University of Mississippi • Michelle R. Howard-Vital Winston-Salem State University •Thomas L. Krepel Northern Illinois University • Ann Candler Lotven Texas A&M University - Texarkana • Roosevelt Newson University of North Alabama

• Robert H.Adams Tennessee Board of Regents

• Richard H. Owens West Liberty State College

• David W.Atkinson Carleton University

• Rolland W. Pack Freed-Hardeman University

• Rodger A. Bates New Mexico State University

• N. S. Parate University of Houston, Texas

• Linda L. M. Bennett University of Southern Indiana

• Randall N. Paschall Air Force Institute of Technology

• James William Berry Butler University

• Chrisann Schiro-Geist University of Memphis

• Paul E. Bibbins, Jr. Ohio University Eastern Campus

• Robert Sheehan University of Toledo

• Kendall A. Blanchard Georgia Southwestern State University

• Bruce W. Speck Austin Peay State University

• William Thomas Bogart York College of Pennsylvania

• Carl A. Stockton University of Texas at Brownsville

• Roger W. Bowen American Association of University Professors

• Melvin Cleveland Terrell Northeastern Illinois University

• Eric James Burton Middle Tennessee State University

• Jackie Thomas Middle Tennessee State University

• John Deegan. Jr. St.Andrews Presbyterian College

• James G.Wingate LeMoyne-Owen College

• Homer Garcia Henry Cogswell College

• Donald P. Zingale The California Maritime Academy

• Robert K. Glenn

Perspectives

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2007, PAGE 4

THE ALL STATE

OUR TAKE

THE ALL STATE

is not an official publication of Austin Peay State University. The views herein do not necessarily reflect those of The All State, Austin Peay State University or the Tennessee Board of Regents.

APSU tunes into iTunes Down here in The All State office, we like to take time to speculate about life, government and culture. Something else we also like speculating about is technology, more specifically the iTunes community Austin Peay State University is adopting.We’re enthusiastic about the possibilities offered by iTunesU and have engaged in much discussion about what can result from such a venture.We instantly thought about what possible content could be uploaded to the iTunes community. The list included lectures, concerts, plays, basketball games, video tutorials and more.

Basically anything that can be recorded possesses potential for iTunesU. The concept is pretty nice, and through iTunes, APSU will become more accessible from farther reaches. Our college is following a progressive trend, ensuring we stay current and competitive with the world’s advancing technology.

This isn’t to say that everything will go without complication. Professors have a big responsibility in making this work, provided they have any inclination to participate, as it is their choice. For those who do choose to provide content, they’ll have to determine what content will best supplement students’ primary learning

medium. That is, they must ensure that the posted content is not merely a regurgitation of what is conducted in class. Otherwise, students may have little reason to attend class.

Because of this, skepticism needs to be drawn towards the iTunes innovation as a primary source of education if it begins to replace the forum of exchanging ideas with a less interactive dialogue.

Something else that all of us should think about is WebCT. It’s our opinion that APSU’s foreign language courses can benefit the most from iTunesU, and this is exciting; however, what does this mean for WebCT, the online account mainly used for Spanish and German? Will it still be necessary, or will it become obsolete and therefore discarded?

And before we conclude, when you, yourselves, are evaluating iTunesU, think about this: Are APSU’s online elements becoming too spread out? We already have APMail, BlackBoard,WebCT,APWeb, which is imminently switching to Austin Peay’s Self Service for Students and now we have iTunesU. Shouldn’t some effort be taken to consolidate all of these elements into one entity? Think of how much better our online experience could be.✦

Who are you calling fat?

I had a buddy “back in the day”who swore that McDonald’s had him under their hypnotic power.He would actually dream a whole legion of“Big Macs”would corner him,forcing him to comply with their demands which of course,led him straight to the golden arches of caloric intake.He often pestered us to help him talk Sir Ronald McDonald into delivering “Happy Meals”in the wee, small hours of the morning,when as he put it “a guy really needs it,” and only a luscious,supersized version will do the job.Before you accuse me of Politically fabricating any of Speaking this while on a Dr. Greg french fry high,I once saw my pal Rabidoux wolf down,seven, that’s right,seven,quarter-pounders in one sitting and live to tell about it the next day.

Though he did make at least two trips to the little hamburglar’s room before exiting Mickey D’s.

Before you look down your ratatouillesalad with infused lo-cal,vinaigrette nose at my friend,know this,he is not alone.In fact, a recent American Medical Association study suggests that well over 65 percent of American adults are considered overweight, with nearly 35 percent of that population in the obese range.And their favorite food,you ask? Fast food,heavy on the burgers,fries and deep-fried burritos.

So,why am I discussing my fellow Americans’food foibles and serving them up to all of you on a tray? Simple,really.If law school professors like those at George Washington University and select,private tort attorneys have their way,the hypnotic power of fast-food franchises,along with their apparently,equally addictive “Badvertisements”(ex:“Eat like a man,man,” “Beef.It’s what’s for dinner”) will be more heavily regulated and pay through their collective nose for tempting us mere mortals so.In other words,don’t blame me because I’m obese but can’t stop my hankering for a “Monster-Thick Whopper-Burger.” No, together,let’s blame corporate America and have them pay us as we make our way through the all-you-can-eat buffet line of life.

Perhaps,as a by-product of our hyperconsumerist oriented environment,and our insatiable need for disclosure [Warning: The Surgeon General says stop drinking alcohol and smoking,but do keep paying sales tax] fast-food companies may soon be forced to tell all,or nearly all on every wrapper,carton, and “Not-So Happy”Meal about what is really inside and what eating it may just do to your insides (Warning: Eating this gallon of Uncle Yum-Yum’s Triple ChocolateFudge deep-fried in buttermilk may cause your arteries to wince before clogging).

Some lawyers across America are

drooling at the prospect of holding fast-food retailers’nuggets to the fire until they yell “Uncle”and provide we,the carnivorous consumer with what these legal-eagles say is our constitutional right to know just how addictive the foods you choose to eat really are.If you are still in the dark as to how much damage that grabbing a cheeseinfused,“superburpito”will do to that flaky taco shell you call your body,well,you are about to be enlightened,my Taco Bell ringing connoisseur.

If fast-food America does not bite this “carrot”of an incentive called voluntary disclosure,and cough-up the fat content of each food item demanded by anti-fat activists then the legal sour grapes could be super-sized lawsuits costing burger and taco moguls as much as $350 million.And that my finger-licking friend is chicken scratch fit for a Colonel,a King and a Clown.

Should fast food franchises be held legally accountable for the “special spices”they cook up in their evil laboratories they call kitchens? Should juicy,apparently addictive (especially for men) burger ads be banned?

When are you a man and not a wimp? Is it when you eat one,two,three or even a fourdecker burger? It seems these ads like the sirens in Homer’s Ulysses draw us in at our own peril to the drive-through window, where we whisper,helplessly,“Please, something fatty,with lots of salt and oil,to go.”

For salsa-sake,any of us taco-heads can now run for the border at all hours of the day or night with our pet Chihuahua when only a double-stuffed,grilled,cheesequesadilla will stop the shaking and get us through the long,lo-cal night.Is it any wonder then that when the scales are tipped to the breaking point it is the corporate suits that must be forced to pay for their hypnotic hold on us as a nation?

Or,should the accountability for our collective fat and love-handles stay right where they now hang,with we,the sedentary,sofa-sitting,trans-fat consumers?

Hey,it’s something we still have over the Chinese,isn’t it? You don’t see anyone there whining about how the Chinese MSG made their life miserable? No.But then,there isn’t one attorney for every 200 Chinese,either.

Maybe we should simply tell Mayor McCheese to stick that law obligating him to disclose his true fat content in his chicken breast pocket.Perhaps,we should just slap Ronald’s wrist with a soggy freedom fry for being so darned hypnotic,so,apparently, criminally addictive.Either way,there is a coming legal battle that may stir up a heap of acid indigestion for fast food franchises that will make “Tums”smile and anti-fat activists yell “food fight”across our fruited plains.

Beware,the next time you are asked “You want fries with that shake?”you may be caught in a whopper of a legal battle over what you can and can’t ask from your friendly burger or taco “dealer.” There’s a real storm a-coming and it’s not just from all that “Diablo Chili”you ate the night before.Tofu, anyone?✦

In the Line of Fire!

In the Line of Fire! is an open forum for your perspective to be heard. It gives opportunity to express what you think in a short, sweet and anonymous way.

Readers are encouraged to speak out for or against any issue desired, no matter how random it may seem.

Get your tinfoil hats. I think Big Brother is stifling our brainwaves with Sunshine Week.

I am sick and tired of getting bombarded by e-mails from military recruiters on APmail. I want off their list. And what is up with those job opportunities? When did our campus e-mail become yet another advertising tool?

Send your views to allstate.perspectives@gmail.com

I am a Christian and I am completely apalled by the way other “Christians” handled the West Memphis Three case.

The All State reserves the right to reject inappropriate or libelous statements.

Don’t hold back and remember, “less is more.”

WHO WE ARE editor in chief Mandy Rogers managing editor Stephanie Coward news editor Dave Campbell assistant news editor April McDonald

APSU has green in its heart

By GAIL GILLIS Guest Writer

A recent article in The Leaf-Chronicle entitled:“TBR: 24 hopefuls in line for APSU president”reported Tennessee Board of Regents representative Judy Gooch’s concerns about the renewable energy iniative at Austin Peay State University.Gooch expressed uncertainty about the validity of APSU’s renewable energy iniative vote results.Students Organized to Advance Renewable Energy would like to address these concerns and make a few clarifications.

Of the 9,000 students enrolled at APSU,only about 7,000 students from the main campus were eligible to vote.Fort Campbell students and online students will not be assessed the Renewable Energy Fee; consequently, they were not eligible to vote.A total of 691 students,or 10 percent of eligible voters,voted. Of those voters,an overwhelming majority of 581 students,or 84 percent, approved the renewable energy iniative.Both the turnout and approval ratings are similar to the levels of support demonstrated in campus votes at Middle Tennessee, Tennessee Tech and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

The renewable energy iniative was the result of a yearlong effort to get the initiative on the ballot. Prior to the January vote,over 800 students participated in SOARE’s renewable energy survey,which gauged their opinions on global climate change,current energy consumption, the cost of energy,and how APSU could effectively confront these issues. Of the respondents,64 percent indicated that they would be willing to pay $10 or more per semester in a student-initiated fee to institute energy efficiency and renewable energy programs at APSU. APSU’s student government guidelines indicate that the SGA will certify a student referendum if it is approved by “the majority of voters plus one,” and that criterion was more than adequately fulfilled.SOARE followed institutional procedures every step of the way in administering its survey and bringing the vote to the students.

“At a time when students are rarely, ifever,asked ifwe support mandatory tuition hikes by TBR,students are expressing the desire to voluntarily tax themselves for the sake oftheir own future.”

APSU students support the renewable energy iniative because at this very moment,mountains are being dynamited to provide coal electricity for our relative comfort,and the pollutants from that burned coal are being dumped into our air and water.APSU students voted to take steps to reverse this cycle,in favor of clean, green,renewable sources like wind and solar energy.

With six out of seven voters in support of this initiative, TBR should proudly accept the outcome of the APSU vote.SOARE urges TBR to embrace this opportunity to become a leader in renewable,sustainable energy,rather than ignoring students’willingness to take control of our energy future and make it clean.

At a time when students are rarely,if ever,asked if we support mandatory tuition hikes by TBR,students are expressing the desire to voluntarily tax themselves for the sake of our own future.SOARE now urges TBR to proudly embrace this opportunity for APSU to become a positive role model for how other schools and the Clarksville community can work to correct the current energy crisis.✦ Gail Gillis serves as secretary for APSU’s chapter of SOARE.

Rethinking education in Tennessee

By MIKE EDWARDS Guest Writer

We have hit an iceberg,and our ship is sinking.

Our ship — our public education system — is not going to get us to our port,and all hands will be lost if we don’t do something quickly.

By any national standard,our public education system is not preparing students to face the future that the world is presenting them.We are at the bottom of every national ranking — test results,educational standards, graduation rates and funding.Fundamentally,we are not providing our children the tools they will need to succeed in a world that requires critical thinking, technical skills and competence in math and science.

Our local economy is dependent on a workforce that has these skills.Without these skills,our workforce cannot do the job,our businesses cannot compete and our economic well-being is at great risk.There is increasing acknowledgment at the local and state levels that major changes are required for our education system to meet these challenges.We must continue to focus on the need for these major changes and not be distracted by efforts to tweak the existing system.

Most of the discussion today is about how the Better Education Program allocates funding among various school districts.The BEP was developed by the state Legislature in response to a lawsuit filed by the 66 rural school districts challenging the state’s existing system of funding education.The intent was to standardize education practices by evening out funding inequities in the system that had left poorer school systems behind.

Over time,the funding formula has been adjusted by the state Legislature,with some changes based on the equal protection doctrine and others based on the squeaking wheel doctrine.We now see that the inequities the BEP attempted to resolve have simply been rearranged.Urban school districts like Knox and Hamilton County receive some of the lowest funding in the state while facing a higher density of at-risk and special needs students who need extra attention and require additional funding.These urban systems are now clamoring for changes to the formula that would allocate these funds in a different way.Just as the rural systems raised a valid point 10 years ago,the urban systems have a valid argument today.The funding formula is flawed.

All this discussion about the BEP formula is a red herring.Instead of focusing on how the money is divided up,we need to be focusing on the bigger question of whether the state is spending enough money on education.And we need only turn to the Education Clause of the Tennessee State Constitution for guidance: “The State of Tennessee recognizes the inherent value of education and encourages its support.The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance,support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools.”

With these words,the constitution has established the requirement that Tennessee citizens be provided a free public education.But what does that mean? Does our current system meet that requirement?

The standard is not specific.It does not mandate any particular program.It does not require compliance with a set of testing standards.It does,however,require the state to provide adequate money,not just some money, which sets the stage for an important discussion.How

will we know that we have prepared students intellectually for a mature life? How do we define “adequacy?”And,more importantly,how will we enforce that standard,if the state continues not to meet it?

Does adequate mean every system has the same student-teacher ratio? Or does it mean every student graduates ready to enter the workforce? Does it mean that rural school districts have the same buildings as urban school districts? Or does it mean they have the same graduation rates? Does adequacy mean that our students are all making adequate yearly progress? Or does it mean that they can compete with their peers throughout the U.S.and the world on standard tests?

There is a significant discussion going on at the state level today about what adequacy means and how it can be assured,as the state’s constitution requires.Although the courts have not yet defined “adequacy,” I have a fair idea it is a standard that is not being met today.

Thirty-eight percent of today’s ninth-grade Tennessee students won’t graduate from high school and of those who do,a large percentage will require remedial instruction when they enter the workforce or college.In 2005,39.9 percent of freshmen enrolled at a Tennessee Board of Regents four-year university required remedial courses,as did 73.9 percent of freshmen enrolled in twoyear community colleges.This tells us that our high school diplomas are not evidence that students are ready for college.And we know that the skills to enter college are the same skills that are needed to hold down a job and support a family.We are not providing enough technical skills to allow our graduates to compete.Can you name a job today that doesn’t require computer or technical skills? They are few and far between in most sectors of the economy.And yet our schools are generally not equipped to provide basic technology training as an integral part of the curriculum.Surely this cannot be considered “adequate.”

We spend a great deal of time talking about the processes of public education: student-teacher ratios, school facilities,testing methods and accountability.All of those things are important.But until we decide on a goal — on an outcome — the processes will not get us the kinds of improvements we need.As the saying goes,if you don’t know where you’re going,any road will do.We must set a goal — we must define adequacy — and chart a course to get there.

Gov.Bredesen has called education Tennessee’s number one priority.We must all help him to ensure that it stays that way.Demand adequate funding,not just a bigger slice of a shrinking pie.Demand a public education system that will prepare our children for the future.We cannot sustain our economy without a qualified workforce.That workforce is in jeopardy today.

But if the right course is charted,and we get a better and stronger ship — a new,improved and adequately funded public education system — we can face the rough seas ahead.✦ Mike Edwards serves as President and CEO of the Knoxville Chamber. He serves on the Tennessee Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Education and Workforce Committee, the Know County Schools Partnership and the Public School Forum of East Tennessee.

sports editor Michael Kellum features editor Jenny Wallace assistant features editor Sarah Bullock perspectives editor Kasey Henricks assistant perspectives editor John Ludwig art director Dustin Kramer photo editor Shanna Moss chief copy editor Jessica Nobert copy editors Erin McAteer Andrew Solarski Robby Thrasher advertising manager Alexander Elliott business manager Jennifer Simpkins staff writers Jack W. Butler Ashley Brown Elizabeth Bruce Tangelia Cannon Heather Clark A.J. Dugger Tanya Ludlow Kyle Nelson Tinea Payne Marlon Scott Ricky Young senior photographers Patrick Armstrong Lois Jones cartoonists Matt Frazier Jennifer Otto illustrator Melina Peavy graphic designer Mateen Sidiq adviser Tabitha Gilliland

THE BASICS

On Campus Location: University Center 115 Visit Us Online: www.theallstate.com Campus Mailing Address: P.O. Box 4634 Clarksville TN 37044 E-Mail: theallstate@apsu.edu allstateads@apsu.edu Main Office: phone: (931)221-7376 fax: (931)221-7377 Publication Schedule: The All State is published every Wednesday of the academic year, except during final exams and holidays.

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THE ALL STATE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2007; PAGE 5

Perspectives

Diet pill ads full of fat

I respect Walter Cronkite

Okay, for the first time in my life I have writer’s block. I swore it could never happen to me. I took pride it the fact I could always spout some BS about anything and make it sound good.Writing this column, however, has changed that. Knowing how it feels to have the most intimate part of myself spread across a welldefined sea of print, images and white space has made me feel as I do now — I owe my readers an article worthy of their time. So this week I’m writing about my hero,Walter Cronkite.

I am sure I was one of the few children in my pre-teens that would run home from playing with friends, turn on the black and white Curtis Mathis TV console and watch the CBS evening news with Walter Cronkite. I would sit in the old brown naugohyde Perspectives lounger, put my feet beside me Jack W. in the big deep cushion and listen. His ability to take me Butler from that recliner in my parents’ living room to the depths of the Vietnam jungles, to the deserts of the Sinai, to the dirt streets of Lebanon and the Gaza Strip was phenomenal.

I crouched in the steamy jungles of Vietnam when Cronkite made his living as a war reporter.We dodged bullets and mortar attacks together. Fellow soldiers lay beside us, bleeding and dying from their wounds. I felt the warmth and stickiness of the blood, the relentless pelting of the monsoon rain and the gut-twisting heat of the tropics.With his words I smelled the stench of death, decay and napalm.While back at camp, I had one less day to live through that hell and another dead friend to remember.

As I grew older, my hero anchored the evening news, I listened a bit harder at newscasts about Vietnam. Each day I knew more and more people who went to the Pearl of the Orient and never returned. Cronkite told their stories as though he knew each of them. His words also brought to life the senselessness of the war — a war that I realized back then, that I might soon be forced to join.

Cronkite’s stories about the troubles in the Middle East opened my eyes to the fact that every story has three sides: The aggressor’s view, the victim’s view and the truth. He spoke to me intently as parents mourned

“I felt the anger and frustration ofan oppressed people living day-by-day in the dirt streets ofa ThirdWorld country forced offtheir land by a more powerful government. I choked on the D.D.T.sprayed from the backs ofIsraeli tanks as they drove downPalestinian roads, poisoning the unborn children.” the death of their children, who had been murdered in self-defense. I felt the anger and frustration of an oppressed people living day-by-day in the dirt streets of a Third World country, forced off their land by a more powerful government. I choked on the DDT sprayed from the backs of Israeli tanks as they drove down Palestinian roads, poisoning the unborn children.And I knew when I was seven years old,America would start World War III in the Middle East, and it would be over oil. I learned these things from listening to the truth of one man’s words.

Cronkite’s smooth style of writing and honest communication of the facts invades my memories even now. Though I am a poor imitation of him, his voice guides me when I want to speak the truth in my writing. There is an insight I believe I possess into the world of reality of which I owe to my hero. I believe Cronkite made me into a writer — a writer trapped within the truth. It is the truth that I want my every article to be about.

Since I could not choose from the plethora of worthy news articles to bring you, I thought I would bring to you one truth that is very personal to me and possibly, universal to people everywhere. It is something I believe we must all remember in the coming months and years in politics. Hate is more powerful than love.

Hate is an all-consuming emotion.While we may imitate the things we love, we become the things we hate. ✦

Stopping abuse against women starts with a list of never agains

I wish to talk about a very serious topic that is near and dear to my heart. That topic is violence towards women.A lot of men tend to cringe and shy away from this subject because the name of the topic alone points the proverbial finger at the male. Many men would rather circle the wagons and make their last stand before they even knew what the phrase entails.

Many men would puff out their chests and deny ever committing such an act. The basic misconception here is that it’s an “us” versus “them” fight, that women are in fact an enemy that needs to be deceived, acted against and retaliated upon. That is however not the case.

Women are indeed human and are made to supplement, not complement or accent, men. They are not frills or Perspectives decorations to hang on your Ricky arm or an appliance that gets a job done. They have Young objectives and obstacles too and as much as their actions affect you, your actions affect them.

I have compiled here a list of things that have festered in my heart throughout the past experiences I have had. I am by no means an expert but have been equipped in my own way. I grew up with women all around me. My mother was one of four girls in her family. She had one brother who I would say wears the battle scars well. My grandmother was the firstborn of a long line of children, most of them female, and of three grandchildren I am the only male. I still have two great grandparents living who have both outlived their husbands. Needless to say there was a strong respect for women being shoved down my throat from birth. It is still lodged there, I think.

As an awkward and shy adolescent I watched and longed to be with many girls. I was never able to date them, much less think of being romantic with them.

They would talk to me about anything in the world because they saw me as a friend, a confessor. I was never the lover or the summer fling, let alone a one night stand. I never even got a pity-kiss (the women know what I’m talking about). I was the nice guy who

was in touch with his feelings.

That said I would like to offer a list of things that I have seen in these dealings. These are things that broke my heart and made me cry a lot of times.Yes, I said cry. Get over it. These are things I have seen, and never want to see again.

I never again want to see the fear in the mother’s eyes as she spends her daughter’s wedding avoiding the demonic ex-husband that made her life a living hell.

I never again want to see the hopeless and anguished look in a girl’s eyes as she looks in the mirror and hates the “thing” that stares back.

I never again want to see the dread that hangs over the whole week because on the weekend, she has to visit her father.

I never again want to see a rib poking through the skin as a girl refuses to eat, or the stoic smile of relief as another pound is dropped in the effort to be beautiful.

I never again want to see that frantic look of desperation in her eyes as it approaches prom night and the phone doesn’t ring. The denial of the truth that he’s “lost” her number after sleeping with her.

I never again want to see the lacerations on the forearms caused by the box cutter she keeps under her mattress.

I never again want to see the faces of the people that not only hated her behind her back, but to her face.

I never again want to see another bottle of antidepressants.

I never again want to see the bruises that adorned her body as the ambulance took her away.

I never again want to see the look in her eyes that told me that she had lost hope.

I never again want to see a social worker take another child away.

Finally, I never again want to see the reluctant relief of the mother when she learns that her daughter is dead and is no longer suffering where she is.

I hope beyond hope that these things that have passed will never touch my retinas again. The memories attached to this list are painful but it is necessary to take them out of the dark place in my soul every once in a while to keep them fresh. May you in your life, never have to see these things. Much less live them. ✦

The United States of America is said to be the world’s most obese nation, so it makes sense that its citizens are constantly bombarded with the newest findings in health and weight loss. If we take a look at these findings, however, we can see many points that we need to consider before jumping on the bandwagon of the latest diet craze.

Perhaps the most tempting of the many diet techniques we may consider is the diet pill.We have all seen advertisements for these pills. They are easily recognized and follow a simple formula. They contain a thin, attractive man or woman, who explains in a complicated scientific way, simple facts that we already know. These facts usually Perspectives include causes of weight gain Ashley such as stress, overeating and lack of exercise. The narrator Brown of the ad states these facts in a way that makes us feel like these things are not our fault and therefore can be solved by medication.

Advertisements such as this ad also contain one key factor: All those before and after pictures. Countless people who have taken this medication come on the screen and tell us how much weight they lost. The results claimed are phenomenal. Many claim to have lost dozens of pounds in just a few short weeks.

During these ads it is important to note the tiny print at the bottom of the screen. It almost always states some form of the phrase,“results not typical,” then goes on to explain the average results over a specific amount of time. This number is much smaller than the claims that the satisfied customers on the screen are making.

Another phrase commonly associated with these commercials that we must be aware of states,“coupled with diet and exercise.” Allow us to return to the causes of weight gain discussed in these commercials: Stress, overeating and lack of exercise. If you couple the pill with diet and exercise, then you are omitting two of these causes without help from the pill.While there are pills that do help with stress, (e.g., antianxiety medications) these pills must be prescribed by psychiatrists.You can order these diet pills over the phone, and you even get double if you use a credit card. The chance of this pill making our lives less stressful is highly unlikely.

However, there are other options when trying to lose weight. There are so many different diets out

there that we should all be able to find one that we are willing to commit to, right? There are countless choices.We can choose not to eat meat, carbohydrates, dairy products, deserts or anything. The truth is, however, that any one of these can be hazardous to your health.

In elementary school health classes we are taught about the food pyramid and the importance of a varied diet, and those facts have not drastically changed. Each of these foods has importance to a healthy lifestyle. From meat we get the necessary proteins that hold our bodies together.While there are thousands of vegetarians in the world, they must find other ways, such as eating eggs,to get these vital

“The truth is,there is a miracle diet.I give my personal guarantee that this will cause weight loss ...

I call it the diet of ‘moderation and exercise’”. proteins.

From breads, we get carbohydrates. Cutting these from our diets can be quite dangerous. Carbohydrates are broken down by your body’s digestive system into glucose, your body’s primary source of energy.

Without this, you may become lightheaded, experience headaches and become dizzy. I do not feel the need to explain why these side effects are bad.

The truth is, there is a miracle diet. I give my personal guarantee that this will cause weight loss.

The diet is simple, but does require dedication. I have used it myself many times and, when I stick to it, the weight that I lose stays gone. I call it the diet of “moderation and exercise.” When you are hungry, eat.

Do not, however, eat too much. Symptoms of eating too much include an aching or upset stomach.

Another important factor in this diet is exercise.

Instead of playing a video game or watching TV, go for a walk or do something you enjoy that will get you moving. This technique is proven to work without expensive pills or strict rules. Simply eat less and exercise more. ✦

Clarksville has a dam problem

Go on, buy a yacht. Perhaps invest in some scuba wear. Because if measures are not taken soon to repair the Wolf Creek Dam,Austin Peay State University students will be rowing themselves to class.

Right now, this isn’t the time for local residents to be thinking about Britney Spears shaving her head, the father of Anna Nicole’s child or Barack Obama’s genealogy, but instead locals should focus on a topic that hits closer to home — the home that may soon be flooded.

I was quite annoyed when I returned to APSU, ready to kick off Spring 2007 only to realize that I may have to go back to my hometown that’s hours away. I was less than thrilled to know that a 56Perspectives year-old dam is leaking and has been doing so for a good Tinea while.

Payne So, the Wolf Creek Dam has been leaking for decades? We most certainly have some “timely”news about a dam, built in 1951, that still continues to leak. That isn’t what I would exactly call news. This is more of a cover-up to an ongoing situation. Now, the media broadcasts the problem with a sense of urgency, despite the fact that according to the Wolf Creek Dam Seepage Rehabilitation Project the dam has had problems dating back to 1967. I can only imagine how the estimated 1.5 million people who live along the Cumberland River feel about the situation. I wouldn’t be too thrilled being the last to hear some possibly life-threatening information.

The dam encompasses the entire length (101 miles) of the Cumberland River, so if this dam breaks Clarksville residents need to know what that means: Riverside Drive will be a river, literally. Nashville will no longer be a 45-minute drive but a two-hour canoe trip.

APSU can claim its own island, sitting alone and inaccessible on a steep hill. This situation is anything but funny. Sources claim that the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers is trying to keep the dam water level at 680 feet sea level. Just last week, however, water levels rose eight feet due to rain, and April showers have yet to come. Talk about a great way to end the Spring semester, floating back home on my Hand Village bedroom door.

This predicament makes me wonder how many Clarksville residents actually found this out in a timely manner. It seemed as if this entire catastrophe happened at once, but according to studies that isn’t so.

According to a Rehabilitation Project memorandum, “the contract for the grouting portion of the work was awarded in September 2006.” Work to the dam was already in progress last fall. But it wasn’t until January when we were first alerted about the leakage, despite the

U.S.Army Corps of Engineers knowing of the problem in 1967.What ever happened to timely notification? My mom sent me an e-mail with news from Alabama about the Wolf Creek Dam almost two weeks before any notice was made public in Clarksville. To this day, I am still puzzled how the rest of the nation knew about our dam situation before the citizens of Clarksville.

The severity of the situation is even questionable as officials constantly use the “unlikely, but possible”clause.

So the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers believes that the dam could break, but it may not? What kind of explanation are they feeding to the public? No wonder Tennessee and Kentucky residents are in a panic. People are only panicking because the disaster is said to be “unlikely”and “possible”at the same time. If officials are talking irrationally like this, perhaps it’s time to take out some flood insurance.

Had I known about this situation prior to spring semester, I would have opted to attend the university closer to my home in Chattanooga. I am sure other commuting students feel the same.With that mindset, what will happen to our booming university population? Our population will backslide if anything happens at all, and it should. If students aren’t already in fear of what the future will bring, how does $2.9 billion in damage sound? Campus residents would have to move their belongings somewhere fast. On-campus residents should ask themselves how quickly they can pack, clean up and move away — just in case. Not to mention the dam has been labeled high risk for failure.

Worst of all, what will happen to our hard-earned college credits? Will APSU turn into Blackboard forever? This would be a gloomy future for APSU students.

In the sense of a future at APSU, I, like many other students, can just return to my hometown of Chattanooga and return when the coast is clear, but this isn’t as easy for students from the Clarksville surrounding area. Many of these students can’t just go home when this disaster strikes.

With that in mind, where’s the evacuation plan?

Officials have been deliberating constantly since February, but that still isn’t good enough.Why wasn’t an evacuation plan established when the Army Corps of Engineers first sensed dam failure back in 1967? So, once again, our government fails us like they failed us during Hurricane Katrina.

Hopefully the situation at hand isn’t as imminent as it appears to be. Clarksville citizens should take this situation as seriously as possible because, apparently, our leading officials have yet to do so. I will take the initiative to make my decision without the assistance of the government. Others should think to themselves whether they are going to make their own plans for evacuation or stick around until that reverse 911 phone call is made. ✦

Features

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2007, PAGE 6

What’s in this issue: West Memphis 3, part II Justin Timberlake concert in Nashville The Stroke’s Albert Hammond Jr. concert Veteran brings war to the forefront Engagement unfolds at swing dance Senior art show

This day in history: 1989

An estimated 11 million gallons of oil are spilled into the ocean near southern Alaska after the supertanker Exxon Valdez crashes into a reef in the Prince William Sound polluting over 700 miles of coastline.

Word of the Day

ablution • \uhBLOO-shun\ • noun The washing of one's body or part of it (as in a religious rite)

Iraq veteran raises awareness Staff Writer

He’s not here to bash Bush; he’s not here to criticize the war; and he’s not here to push his own agenda.What veteran Mike Krause is here to do is wake a sleeping giant from its slumber.

“America is completely unaware of the fact that people are fighting and dying in a war,” Krause said.

“I feel it’s my responsibility to do what I can to inform Americans of the ramifications of our policy in Iraq.”

At the age of 17, Krause enlisted in the U.S. Army with the 101st Airborne Division and by the time he was 19, he had reached the rank of Sergeant.

While the greatest worry for most people that age is whether to sleep in or go to class, Krause’s main concern was securing the lives of the eight men who served under him.

In his eight years of military service, Krause was deployed once to Afghanistan and twice to Iraq.

However, it was his wartime experiences in Iraq that provided him with what he would one day use to attempt to rekindle America’s awareness of its soldiers and veterans. Krause’s first deployment to Iraq was from March 2003 to March 2004.

“Everything was crazy the first day we got there,” he said.“People were looting and we weren’t allowed to stop them.

The power was also out, and we couldn’t get it back up again for months. I didn’t have a shower or hot meal from March to August of that same year.”

His main duty in Iraq was to secure air fields so U.S. cargo planes bearing soldiers and equipment could land safely.

This meant working outside in 140-degree heat under the ever-present threat of insurgent gunfire while trying to keep both himself and his men alive and intact.

Though he enjoyed air-conditioning, the Internet and Baskin Robbins ice cream during his

“America is completely unaware of the fact that people are fighting and dying in a war”

second deployment, the constant mortar attacks reminded him he was far away from home.

He remembers the worst day, when their camp was bombarded by enemy mortars 14 separate times. In 2004, on Christmas Eve, Krause and his roommate were nearly thrown out of bed by a car bomb that had been detonated at the gate of the camp.

During Krause’s two deployments to Iraq, he saw four friends laid to rest. On top of that, his soon-tobe brother-in-law, Lt. Dennis Zilinski, was killed on Nov. 19, 2005, when a bomb exploded near his Humvee.

He had only been in Iraq six weeks. However, Zilinski’s death would ultimately prove to be the catalyst for Krause’s present-day political activism.

Krause began attending night classes at Austin Peay State University while on active duty.

When his contract was up, he continued on toward developing a career in politics.

However, when he was selected for a highlycompetitive internship funded by the state government, he realized he wanted to be more involved in the legislative process.

“I’ve always been interested in politics, even in high school,” he said.“And when I started attending APSU, I thought I wanted to be something behind the scenes, like a budget analyst. Once I started this internship though, I realized I wanted to do more than that.”

Krause credits his success to David Kanervo, chair of the department of political science at APSU.“I wouldn’t have been able to get this internship without him,” Krause said.

Kanervo said it was Krause who came to him seeking the internship and that Krause “was one of the better applicants” they chose. Only 25 students are selected for the Tennessee Legislative Internship program and out of the 40 who applied, three APSU students were chosen.

Krause was one of the three.“He represents the university well because of his articulateness and maturity,” said Kanervo about Krause.

“He will be successful in politics because of his military background, intelligence and ability.”

Now a senior at APSU, Krause dedicates a substantial amount of time and energy to raising public awareness of the war in Iraq.

To spread his message he has traveled to various campuses across the state of Tennessee, providing

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Did you know?

The practice of eating insects is called entomophagy The oldest person on record is Methuselah (969 years old).

Sgt. Krause is on duty in Iraq during his first deployment in March 2003.

Earth is the densest planet in the solar system and the only one not named after a god.

students with a first-hand account of the war.

In fact, on April 3, he and another veteran will be at Vanderbilt University in Nashville screening “War Tapes,” a documentary made when soldiers were handed video recorders and told to capture their lives in Iraq.

Krause also has been interviewed by newspapers such as The Leaf Chronicle, The Tennessean and even The New York Times, for his political activism.

“This has nothing to do with self-promotion,” Krause said.“All I’m trying to do is start a dialogue between America and Iraq veterans.”

There are roughly 625,000 veterans of Iraq in the United States and while that might seem small in comparison with the relative population of the country, Krause believes America and the media need to start recognizing the sacrifices soldiers and their families are making. The impact will affect our generation greatly.

“This war defines our generation, whether we want it to or not,” he said,“and at least this time we’re doing it right by supporting our soldiers.”

Krause doesn’t see numbers when combat fatalities are reported in the news.

“I see someone’s brother, daughter or child,” he said.“Those numbers are actual people with families. I lost four friends in Iraq, and I can not imagine the grief of a mother losing her child.”

Looking back on his military career, Krause was positive.“I’m thankful for the responsibility given to me at that young age,” he said.

“The military has made me who I am and though I would never go back in, I wouldn’t trade the experiences for anything.”

He is also thankful to be a student at APSU.“I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now if it wasn’t for this university.” ✦

Assisstant Features Editor

Peace, love and shamrocks fill the air at the St. Patrick’s Day swing dance at Austin Peay State University. Many students gathered to learn how to swing dance and share St. Patrick’s Day together without alcohol.

The Navigators of APSU hosted this event and the admission was donation based.

The dance began with lessons for beginners where they learned the basic step, the outside turn, the sweetheart and the inside turn.

Even though many couples couldn’t feel the rhythm or stepped on each other’s feet, the mood

PATRICK ARMSTRONG/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Heather Forkam and Josh Strother displayed expert techniques and enthusiam at the St. Patrick’s Day dance.

“I’ve never pictured a proposal,but I couldn’t have imagined a better way than this,” – Rosa Walker, vocal performance and international studies major of the party only grew lighter.

“I’ve never been to a dance without a girlfriend, so this is a little odd for me,” said Mike Donahue, resident assistant at Two Rivers and beginning swing dancer.

“I’ve danced with Becca and Michelle and Rebecca and none of them are my girlfriend,” Donahue said.

Many other patrons came without partners but danced every dance.

No person was afraid to ask a perfect stranger to dance.

Some couples, like Heather Forkum and Josh Strother, were displaying expert techniques involving tosses, flips and other general exhibition of the flexibility of the female partner.

As the dance progressed, Tray Turner, the coordinator, sporting a snazzy suit and tie, called everyone to the dance floor to make a circle.

Many swing dances involve games in which the patrons circle up and pull people in the middle so the patrons follow along.

In the middle was Turner with the

microphone and a couple who have known each other for 7 years: Rosa Walker, a freshman vocal performance and international studies major and Richard Hart, a student from Union University.

Turner then gave the microphone to Hart and went to the music station.

Suddenly, Hart took the microphone and looked at Walker and said,“Rosa, I love you. I love you more than words can say.”

Hart walked over to Walker and bent down on one knee and pulled from his pocket a small, velvet box.

Walker was now in shock and amazement.

“Will you marry me?” said Hart.

The crowd was stunned, as they were all expecting a game of some sort.

The excited and joyous Walker was drowned out by the applause of the crowd as Hart placed a third generation engagment ring on her left hand and “Strangers in the Night” began playing as they danced together.

Walker then placed a sweet kiss on Hart’s cheek as they danced as they are saving their first

PATRICK ARMSTRONG/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

The future Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hart showed off their moves.

kiss for their wedding day.“I’ve never pictured a proposal, but I couldn’t have imagined a better way than this,” said Walker.

After the dance of the engaged couple, the swing dancing returned again, full throttle.

Since everyone was up, they all began to dance well into the night. ✦

Timbaland,Timberlake bring ‘sexy back’to Nashville audience

By JESSICA BAIRD Staff Writer

Contact us with your story ideas:

Jenny Wallace, features editor, jwallace20@apsu. edu Sarah Bullock, assisstant features editor, sbullock14@apsu. edu

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Sgt. Mike Krause is in Iraq next to a fallen monument of Saddam Hussein near Balad.

By SARAH BULLOCK

There are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes.

A green diamond is the rarest diamond.

Staff Writer

Contrary to rumors within the music world, the garage rock revivalists The Strokes aren’t over. In their off time, however, their rhythm guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr.’s solo career is off to a critically acclaimed start.

During his performance at Nashville’s Exit/In, Hammond played nearly every track off of his brilliantly breezy debut album “Yours to Keep.” Considering that Hammond isn’t the lead singer or main lyricist for the New York based rock ‘n roll heroes The Strokes, (that title belongs to Julian Casablancas), or the member that dated Hollywood A-lister Drew Barrymore, (drummer Fabrizio Moretti wears that crown), it was especially nice to see one of the “other guys” take center stage.

In just over an hour, Hammond, along with a skilled four piece backing band, ripped through 12 melodic and rollicking tunes, including the fuzz-tinged show opener “Everyone Gets a Star.”

The son of a popular singer-songwriter in the 1970s, Hammond was practically born with a Fender guitar in his hand.

Aside from the critical accolades and sold out venues that greet The Strokes across the globe, Hammond never expected to branch out as a solo artist.

“I went in to record a song, and I liked it, so I recorded another,” he said in a recent interview published in SPIN magazine.

“On the eighth song, I realized I had a record.” Although a full fledged LP might not have initially been on the radar for the curly haired guitarist, it has certainly delighted everyone from the critical elite to the devout fans of The Strokes.

David Fricke, a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, called Hammond’s debut record “an album to fall in love with.” This adoration definitely trickled down to Hammond’s fans in music city on Sunday night. Bobbing their heads and singing along, the attendees soaked up the sun drenched, sweet sounding tunes.While alternating sips from a cup of Jagermeister to a bottle of beer, Hammond personified the rock ‘n’ roll archetype of decades past.

When keyboardist and backing guitarist Marc Eskenazi told the crowd about an after party, Hammond didn’t miss a beat and responded,“The party’s right here dude.” Spoken like a true rock ‘n roller. ✦

Swing dance brings more than good luck with diamond

Every person has a unique tongue print.

The names of the three wise monkeys are Mizaru (See no evil), Mikazaru (Hear no evil), and Mazaru (Speak no evil).

By JESSICA BAIRD

– Mike Krause, veteran and APSU student

Example Sentence: The river that flowed past the campsite had a secluded nook where we could take care of our ablutions in privacy.

“Integrity is not a 90 percent thing, not a 95 percent thing; either you have it or you don't. “ -Peter Scotese

Guitarist launches solo career

AIMEE THOMPSON

plural : the act or action of bathing

Quote of the Week

THE ALL STATE

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Timbaland, one of Justin Timberlake’s producers and also one of the popular music world’s most prolific and successful producers, also took the stage at Timberlake’s concert.

“Oh Tennessee, you’re too good to me,” said Justin Timberlake during his sold-out show in Nashville last weekend.

The native of the Volunteer State was glad to be home.

Judging by the deafening screams and the blinding flashbulbs, the crowd was happy to have him too.

Wearing a three-piece suit and white sneakers, Timberlake seemed to glide through every dance move, proving that he’s definitely got the Memphis soul.

The stage set was as impeccable as Timberlake’s clothes. Set in the round at Gaylord Entertainment Center, the “sexyback” singer was surrounded by dancers, back up singers and, of course, screaming fans.

Opening with the title track off his recent second album “FutureSexLoveSounds,” Timberlake’s energy never ceased and his voice remained pitch-perfect throughout his twohour set. The show was part hip-hop, part dance party and even part revival when a gospel choir

“You’ll never know how grateful I am and how much I love and appreciate all of you,” – Justin Timberlake, popular entertainer was projected onto the large screens which surrounded the circular stage.

These screens were especially helpful when sections of the audience would lose sight of the main attraction.Although the set up in the round looked great, it often hindered people’s views of the singing and dancing pop prince.

Halfway through the FutureSexLoveShow, Timberlake took a much deserved break.

During this 20-minute intermission, Timbaland, one of the music world’s most prolific and profitable producers took the stage.

Accompanied by two other DJ’s, Timberlake’s right hand man spun samples of many of his chart topping hits, including songs by Missy

Elliott,Aaliyah and Nelly Furtado.

“Rock Your Body,” the hit single off of Timberlake’s debut album “Justified” kicked off the second half of his marathon set.

The excitement of the crowd never faltered, as they continued to shriek and sing along to such modern-day gems as Timberlake’s newest single,“What Goes Around … Comes Around.”

As high octane and powerful as Timberlake’s performance was, his show opener Pink turned in a dynamic set as well. Just as her dance hit claims, Pink, promised to “Get the Party Started.”

During this song, which also closed her set, Pink looked like a member of Cirque de Soleil, as she wrapped herself in fabric descended from the ceiling.

The singer spun towards the top of the stage, while still belting out her strong raspy voice.

This physical and vocal feat set the tone for the rest of the non-stop entertainment extravaganza.

As the show neared its end, Timberlake gave back some southern hospitality by saying, “[You’ll never know] how grateful I am and much I love and appreciate all of you.” ✦

THE ALL STATE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2007; PAGE 7

Features

Student show ‘sports’artwork “My ideal job would be to work with a sports advertising firm,” – Jenni Gerdom, graphic design major

LOIS JONES/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Avid sports player also enjoys graphic design

By LOIS JONES

Taking a series of softball photos, Gerdom creates mosaic-style artwork.

LOIS JONES/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Gerdom stands in front of her graphic design pieces at her show opening.

Senior Photographer

Art and sports are a combination of interests one does not generally think of, but this is not the case for senior Jenni Gerdom. In her senior art show, Gerdom incorporates her love for both.

Playing sports since age five and loving art, specifically graphic design, since her youth as well, Gerdom uses her knowledge of sports and her graphic design major for her show titled “For the Love of the Game.”

Gerdom currently plays on

West Memphis Three,part II Three young men sentenced in a horrific case with circumstantial but no concrete evidence.

By HEATHER CLARK Staff Writer

In the wake of the horrible crime at Robin Hood Hills, three innocent boys were dead.

Three teenage boys were arrested and eventually convicted for their murders. Jessie Misskelley received a life sentence plus 40 years. Jason Baldwin received life without parole. Michael “Damien” Echols, seen as the ringleader of the crime, was sentenced to death by lethal injection. They remain in Arkansas prisons today.

While there was a significant media frenzy surrounding the event in 1993, this tragic story might have faded into obscurity had it not been for a novel published in October of the same year.

Written by investigative journalist Mara Leveritt, Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three was a look at the trials and convictions of the three teenagers and what the author saw as a gross mishandling of the American legal system. Three years later, HBO released a documentary that continued the stir. “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” regenerated interest in the case across the nation.

It was a candid look at the small southern town, including interviews with the victims’ families, the accused, and the professionals involved. Some have praised it as a poignant documentary; others have branded it a biased item of propaganda.

Beliefs of guilt or innocence aside, many who viewed the film began to question whether or not

“The films are remarkable and it is certainly an interesting — and troubling — case,” – President Bill Clinton, on the documentary “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders” the West Memphis Three indeed received a fair trial.

The success of the initial documentary spawned the release of “Paradise Lost 2: Revelations in 2000.”

“The films are remarkable, and it is certainly an interesting — and troubling — case,” said President Bill Clinton in a letter to co-creator Joe Berlinger.

The result of the continued coverage is an international support network that devotes itself to getting new trials for the West Memphis Three.

Celebrities involved in the movement include Margaret Cho, Henry Rollins, Eddie Vedder,Winona Ryder and Jello Biafra.A group based out of California has founded WM3.org, a Web site designed to raise awareness for the West Memphis Three.

If people were to look beyond the sensational films and novels, however, there would still be enough information to raise questions. The submission of black clothing and “black metal” lyrics as evidence in a murder trial, the witnesses who claimed to have heard the accused confess to the murders but had no information of anything said

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Jason Baldwin received a life sentence without parole.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Jessie Misskelley received “Damien”Echols was sentenced to death by a life sentence plus 40 leathal injection. years.

before or after in the conversation, etc.

When reading the archives of area newspapers, it shows how occult rumblings were circulating throughout the town at the beginning of the investigation.

The media had access to speculation about the extent of young Christopher Byers injuries (the fact that he was sexually mutilated), which means that much of this case was known throughout town before any person came forward to confess.

In 2003,Vickie Hutcheson, one of the key witnesses for the prosecution, sat down with a reporter for The Arkansas Times and said that every last bit of her testimony was a lie.

While her credibility is questioned by many — given her prior criminal record — others wonder what she has to gain by coming forward after so many years. In Echols’ various appeal cases,Arkansas Supreme Court documents have indicated that there was sufficient expert testimony. Included on the expert list is a self-proclaimed “occult expert.”

Some feel that justice was served. Others feel that innocents are behind bars. Many are unsure either way, but continue to feel that the trial itself was not the classic example of courtroom objectivity.

The original HBO documentary tagline sums it up best:“It’s frightening to think they did it. It’s terrifying to think they didn’t.” ✦

Correction to first article

Present at the crime scene where the boys were murdered was juvenile officer Steve Jones, not Jerry Driver. Driver was the juvenile officer who had been following and questioning Echols months prior to the murders.

intramural, softball and flag football teams, here at Austin Peay State University and currently has an internship at a graphic design firm LOIS JONES/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER in Adams, Tenn.

“How to Return to the Game”is an informative brochure-like piece.

Gerdom, while playing on a team, has her own personal goals but is very much a team player and uses that team player attitude in her design.

Gerdom also believes that you need to work as a team when working in the brainstorming stage of graphic design.“My ideal job would be to work with a sports advertising firm. I also like Website design,” Gerdom said. The show will LOIS JONES/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER run through tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Gerdom’s graphics create a series of sports informational posters. the Trahern student gallery. ✦

Comics

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2007, PAGE 8

THE ALL STATE

THE ALL STATE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2007; PAGE 9

OPINION

ESPN: Cultural icon can’t be explained

By MARLON SCOTT Senior Staff Writer

If you are a sports fan, then you probably do it more than seven times a week.You can do it anytime.You do it when you are bored.You do it to make yourself feel better. You probably do it instead of watching commercials without even realizing it. Face it sports fan, you watch a lot of ESPN. It has been here for as long as most of us have been alive. Do you even remember the first time you watched SportsCenter?

Was it sitting on your father’s lap as a child?

Maybe it started when you got on your first team?

Sure you read the sports section of newspapers, listen to the sports section of news broadcast, and even read Sports Illustrated.

But the fact that Tim Hardaway hates gay people, or that some NASCAR crews put jet fuel in their cars doesn’t seem real until you hear it on ESPN. But those same few know when Pardon the Interruption comes on and learned how to play No Limit Texas Hold’em watching The World Series of Poker.

It is hard to put into the words the need for ESPN because it serves many roles in our everyday lives. For fantasy sports players it is the altar where many players are both prayed for and cursed. For others it is an aid to deal with PNSS (Post NFL Stress Syndrome).

Girlfriends and wives have asked us to express our need for ESPN and the elusive answer has cost some of us relationships because it is also our mistress.

How many times have you been on the phone with a girlfriend while watching it muted?

The most accurate description that I can offer is that ESPN is the sun and we are the planets revolving around it, basking in its glow. Second only to being a professional athlete, working for ESPN is the ideal job (Third, of course, being a sports writer for a newspaper.)

This is not a promotion. It is an acknowledgement of a phenomenon. As technology progresses and we are offered more choices in media and how we view it, one cable channel is insignificant comparatively.

However, when you are in the food court, at the gym or anyplace where more than one television is on for the public to watch, what channel is at least one television tuned to?

Now consider a world without ESPN But do not take too long thinking about it.

The 5 p.m. SportsCenter is coming on.✦

Sports

Govs continue eight-game win streak APSU sweeps opponent for third consecutive time

By MARLON SCOTT Senior Staff Writer

The Austin Peay State University Governors are on a roll, and the Furman Paladins are the latest team to find out the hard way. The Govs traveled to Greenville, S.C. this weekend for a three-game series against the Furman Paladins.

For the Govs, this was the third consecutive series sweep in a row that began at home against WisconsinMilwaukee on March 9.

For the Paladins, this was a weekend of struggles that began with a doubleheader on Saturday.

In the first game Saturday, the Paladins held a onerun lead from Joe Daysh’s home run in the third inning until the sixth inning.

It was the only run senior pitcher Shawn Kelley gave up as he pitched a complete game in which he struck out six batters and walked none.

Junior outfielder Will Hogue hit a RBI single in the sixth to tie the game. The Govs took the lead in the eighth. After junior Tyler Farrar hit a mishandled double into left field and then advanced to third on a wild pitch, Hogue was walked, and freshman Tyler Bullock launched a 2 RBI single into center field.

Senior Matt Smith followed with a line drive double allowing Bullock to score the third run of the inning.

The Govs scored again in the ninth and won the game 5-1.

In the second game, junior J.B. Gilbert led the Govs offense with two hits in four at bats for two RBI and a home run in the third inning for the first score of the game.

Will Hogue continued his hitting spree with three hits in the second game including one RBI. Hogue ended the day going 5-of-7 at the plate with two RBI and one run.

The Govs had established a 7-1 lead by the eighth inning when the Paladins started hitting everything sophomore pitcher Ryne Mantooth threw at them.

After the first two batters singled to get on base Marcus Rose smacked one out the park to make the score 7-4. Senior pitcher Ben Wilshire replaced Mantooth and allowed only one more hit to pick up the save 7-5.

On Sunday Furman hoped to at least steal one game of the three-game series, but senior pitcher Matt Reynolds destroyed those hopes by pitching a complete game in which he struck out four and walked one.

APSU scored first on a RBI single by Matt Smith in the fourth inning, but Furman tied the score after two Govs’ errors in the fifth.

Furman pitcher Matt Smith pitched seven innings striking out four batters, walking two and allowing only two runs on six hits.

In the sixth, Smith struck senior outfielder Rafael Hill with a pitch. Hill stole bases to get in scoring position and then scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Govs the lead 2-1.

Tyler Farrar lit up Paladin relief pitcher Marc DeDecker in the eighth inning with a single to right field.

Hogue followed suit with a RBI double. Junior outfielder Josh Kemph brought Hogue home with a single, and the Govs won 4-1.

Hogue continued a nine-game hitting streak with one hit and two RBI in the game. He helped the Govs produce 10 hits, the fifth time the Govs have had double-digit hitting efforts in the last six games.

With an 11-6 record and an eight game winning streak the Govs return home to face Belmont Wednesday at 6 p.m. ✦

LOIS JONES/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Senior Ryan Gilboy hits against Indiana State. The Govs swept Furman in their three-game series and are on an eight-game win streak.

Govs tennis drops matches to Tennessee Tech

By PATRICK ARMSTRONG Staff Writer

On St. Patrick’s Day, the Govs and Lady Govs tennis teams went into their matches hoping that the luck of the Irish would be on their side but unfortunately it was not.

The opposing team, OVC rival Tennessee Tech, defeated the men 7-2 and the women 5-1.

The Govs’ No.1 doubles team of Lucas DeBrito and Leonardo Locatelli, both from Brazil, clashed heads with TTU. DeBrito’s killer serve gave them a couple of aces and their solid teamwork kept them going strong.

During the match, they gave away some critical points, and it came back to haunt them in the end. They lost 8-6.

The other doubles teams of Patrick Puertolas and Will MaGee lost 8-4 and Nick Gallaner and Leandro Tolosa-Zenklusen fought for an 8-4 win.

The Lady Govs’ No.1 doubles team of Mariana Pagan and Isabel

Rzezniczek implemented their own specialties into the match.

Pagan, while at the net, would cross to the other side of the court to pick up the return of serve and put it away while Rzezniczek rallied with her consistent forehand until they could not take it anymore.

In the end they lost 8-5. The team of Michelle Liew and Virginia Penner lost 8-6.

Singles did not pan out well for either team. During DeBrito’s match, his forehand was giving him problems.

Consistency was not in his favor and he lost 6-2, 6-1. Puertolas lost 6-1, 6-0; Locatelli won the only singles match 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; Tolosa-Zenklusen lost 6-3, 6-2; MaGee lost 5-7, 6-1 (10-6) and Gallaner lost 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).

On the women’s side, Pagan had a tough one, losing 6-1, 6-3.

Rzezniczek lost 6-1, 6-2; Liew lost 6-1, 6-0, and Penner got the only win 2-6, 6-3 (10-7).

The next home tennis match will be March 25 at noon against fellow OVC opponent Eastern Illinois.✦

PATRICK ARMSTRONG/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Freshman Leonardo Locatelli hits the ball against Tennessee Tech.

Sports WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2007, PAGE 10

OPINION

March Madness is an addiction that is hard to get away from

Lady Govs win two of three against TSU in weekend play

By MICHAEL YOUNG Senior Staff Writer

March is that magical time in college basketball when practically every American male fills out his fantasy brackets and goes to bed each night dreaming of bringing home the gold.

What is it about filling out a bracket that makes every college basketball fan revert to such crude behavior where they can taunt their friends, co-workers and even family members about who was right about winning the game between Nevada and Creighton?

Every weekend is spent in front of the television screen where each game is battled out from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

In that 12 hours, trips to the bathroom are designated to YOUNG commercial breaks, food is eaten constantly without hindering the view to the television and speaking is only used when necessary.

A week ago, I had never heard of Virginia Commonwealth but I knew I wasn't a fan after they put out Duke, my pick for the winner of the game.

It's the overall intensity and comradery of 64 teams fighting for one championship that gets the testosterone and pride riled up.

At least that's what I tell my significant other when she doesn't understand why we have to watch Wisconsin try to survive against UNLV—the fifth straight game of the day.

I can't complain too much after winning 29 of the first 32 games but my heart goes out to those less fortunate. Each wrong answer is a small heartbreak towards waiting until next season to claim the title as the best guesser in my small circle of the sporting world.

For those suffering through the bracketbusting blues, don't worry too much.

It'll all be over soon. I'm sure your friends won't rip you too bad for picking Louisville to reach the Final Four or because you let your personal commitment as a Texas Longhorns fan to have them sitting in the driver's seat of the national championship.

When things start going downhill, repeat this to yourself: It's only a game. Maybe if you tell yourself this a few thousand times then the pain will go away.

It's not likely but it's worth a shot. But for those looking for a prayer this week, here are my picks for the Elite Eight and Final Four:

Elite Eight

Florida Oregon Kansas UCLA Memphis Ohio State North Carolina Georgetown

Final Four

Florida over Kansas North Carolina over Ohio State

National Championship

Florida repeats in a 73-72 squeak by the Tar Heels.✦

THE ALL STATE

By ANDREW SOLARSKI Guest Writer

The Austin Peay State University Lady Govs’ softball team fell in the final game of a three game series against Tennessee State this weekend. In the first two games, the Lady Govs had plenty of offense, scoring three runs in both games while limiting TSU to one run. In the third game, however, it was TSU who showed their capabilities on offense.

The final game of the three game series was played in the early afternoon in some chilly weather, but that didn’t stop the Lady Govs’ fans from coming out and showing their support. The standing-room-only crowd on the Lady Govs side was pumped up from the beginning. The crowd was quieted after both the Lady Govs and the Tigers failed to do any scoring in either of the first two innings. It appeared that the trend was going to continue into the bottom of the third, but it was not so.

The Lady Govs had recorded two out and the Tigers had two runners on base. The next batter hit a high pop fly into the outfield and a Lady Govs’ error allowed a snowball effect and the Tigers scored three runs in that inning. Other than that hiccup, pitcher Natasha Anderson threw a great game allowing three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts. Anderson also pitched the day before, picking up wins as a starter in the first game and a reliever in the second.When asked of her performance in the third game of the series Anderson replied,“I didn’t pitch well today. They were more aggressive [at the plate] today than yesterday.” Her record is now 8-5 as a starter and she has three saves on the season.

The Lady Govs tried to respond in the bottom of the third but came up with virtually nothing as TSU pitcher Amanda Vaught was throwing rockets all day.APSU attempted to mount a comeback in the fifth. Ami Bush started out the inning with a bloop single to shallow left.

Then Meagan Williams, followed with a screaming single to left. The APSU fans could feel the offense coming to life and began to cheer as they did at the beginning of the game.

Beth Carr then attempted a bunt and fouled it off, but on her second try she was successful and advanced the runners to second and third. The fans on both ends could feel the momentum shifting and the APSU offense finally starting to get on track. Then, on a 2-1 count, Taylor Newberry popped out to first. The crowd still had faith in the Lady Govs as Brittany Williams came to the plate. She fouled off pitch after pitch and finally hit a screaming line drive. Unfortunately, for the Lady Govs, she hit it right to the second baseman.

You could hear the wind being sucked out of the APSU fans. Anderson continued to mow down Tigers batters for the next two innings.

The Lady Govs provided little resistance until the bottom of the seventh inning.

The first Lady Gov grounded out, but Ami Bush hit a scorching single. The fans began to stir again, hoping that this was the rally they had all been waiting for.

Unfortunately, the next batter struck out but there was still hope as Carr smashed a single to short left. Fallon Felts came up to pinch hit next, and she delivered. She hit a rocket to center that brought Bush home and added another RBI to Felts’ already impressive senior season.

Brittany Williams came up next and popped out on the first pitch she saw. Silence filled the stadium as the Lady Govs couldn’t complete the sweep. Felts, who accounted for the Lady Govs lone run, felt that they didn’t bring their best game. She also described the team as being flat.

“Yesterday, we had a lot better intensity. I felt like we had almost none today.” As far the rest of the season, Felts replied,“This is the best team I have been on since I have been here.

“We are by far the most talented.We were picked to finish seventh in the OVC, so I think we will have the ability to sneak up on a lot of people.”

Head Coach Jim Perrin was disappointed with the

LOIS JONES/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Sophomore Lacey Briscoe gets ready to pitch against Tennessee State. Briscoe pitched five innings in the second game of the three- game series. Briscoe gave up four hits and one earned run while striking out two players and walking one. She took the win, giving her a 4-1 record for the season. The Lady Govs won the second game 3-1.

Senior Natasha Anderson pitched two innings in the game and gave up one hit at seven at bats. The Lady Govs also won the first game 3-0.

“We are guilty of not being focused all the time.I am trying to get the girls to understand that every pitch,every play is important,” – Jim Perrin, head women’s softball coach

team’s mental game.“We are guilty of not being focused all the time. I am trying to get the girls to understand that every pitch, every play is important.”

“The mental game is too important and we have to be more focused to win” Perrin said. Perrin continued to say that the Lady Govs must start scoring early and often if they want to keep winning. He also said that he wished the girls would bring what they do on the practice field to game situations. He described the girls’ practices, especially in the batting cages, as being very good.

“I am proud of these kids and how they have battled, Perrin said.“They have never quit at any time this season.”✦

LOIS JONES/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Senior Ami, Bush bunts the ball against Tennessee State. Bush had one hit and one run in the thir d game against TSU which the Lady Govs lost.

APSU track competes in second annual Spring Fling Sophomore Bertha Castillo sets new record in 10,000 meter run by four minutes, three other Lady Govs win

By MARLON SCOTT Senior Staff Writer

“It was a cold and windy day in Clarksville …” That is how sophomore Bertha Castillo may begin the story she will tell her future children and grandchildren about the day she broke the Austin Peay State University school record in the 10,000meter run formerly set by Anna Claire Raines in 2006.

During APSU’s second annual Spring Fling, Castillo completed her run in 35:27.09, beating the record by over four minutes (39:37.79) in less than ideal conditions.

“It was a great race and very exciting,” said head coach Doug Molnar.

“She beat a five-time all American and those were tough conditions. It was probably 38-40 degrees and the wind was gusting up to 30 miles an hour. It was amazing to even be close.”

Castillo was modest about her record-breaking performance.

“I feel good,” replied Castillo.“I was a little tired from Wednesday’s workout.

“Maybe I should have had only one workout instead of two. I was just trying to stay as close as possible.”

Castillo and the rest of the APSU women’s track team competed against squads from AlabamaBirmingham, Belmont, Bethel, Lipscomp and Northwest Missouri.

Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) had a strong showing at the meet, winning most of the events

including the 100, 400, 800, and 1500-meter runs.

The Lady Govs were not far behind them.

Sophomore Jen Pond won the javelin throw with a throw of 36.39 meters. This was her third win in three meets.

Freshman Molly Bertkiewicz won the pole vault clearing 3.3 meters. Fellow freshman pole-vaulter Carrie Burggraf also did well, clearing 3.15 meters.

After missing two months of competition, Lady Govs freshman Amanda McCoy won the high jump with a five-foot, 3-inch jump.

“I think we had some pretty good performances,” Molnar said.

In addition to getting his team ready and cheering them on during the competition, Molnar had the extra duty of coordinating the event that APSU hosted for three days.

Despite the windy, cool weather that had athletes and fans shivering, Molnar was pleased with the event and looks forward to hosting the third annual Spring Fling next year.

“We are going to try and grow this event each year,” Molnar said.

“We think this can be a good meet and we can draw some good teams here.”

“It’s a very fast track, so we are always excited to host it and show off the facilities here because we think it is some of the best in this part of the country.”

Next, APSU heads to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the Alabama Relays. They return to Clarksville to compete on April 7 for the APSU Invitational.✦

PATRICK ARMSTRONG/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Freshman Carrie Burggraf cleared 3.15 meters in the pole vault at APSU’s second annual Spring Fling.

PATRICK ARMSTRONG/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Freshman Amanda Mccoy won the high jump event with a jump of five -feet, three-inches even after she missed two months of competition. McCoy was one of four Lady Govs to win their event.